Yep, OSR Christmas will wrap up with the gifting of these last few gifts. Comment below if you wish to be considered for one of these fine gifts. Note, that there is a physical gift in the mix, so only those who expressly state in their comment that they have a United States mailing address will be considered for such.
Gifts from OSR Christmas Days 9, 10, and 11 that haven't been addressed yet will be tackled tomorrow. If there are outstanding gifts from earlier days, ping me. With many balls in the air, I expect to drop one or two.
Comments must be in by Tuesday, December 9th, 2024 at 1800 hrs.
So, without further ado, here's the gift list:
From DiceBro:
•PDF Bundle of issues1-3 of Wizard Funk, an OSR zine
From On the Tabletop:
• PDF copy of Holmes & Clark, along with digital goodies
From James Mishler Games:
•Set of 12 PDFs (by my count) of James Mishler releases for Shadowdark as well as the Isle of Eldisor for Labyrinth Lord in PDF
From Tenkar's Tavern/Solarian Games
New Copy of Top Secret: New World Order
Shipped in the US Only!
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
First things first. I've been a friend of, as well as a fan of, Greg Christopher for well over a decade. Greg ran the D&D Next (5e Beta) playtest for me and others. He writes some of the best gaming material for OSR gaming that one can find on the market IMHO.
ShadowSun is Greg's homage to Dark Sun, using the rules of ShadowDark. I have had an earlier PDF version of ShadowSun that Greg had shared with me earlier, but while looking at the current sale, I noticed that the Print plus PDF is only 14.95 for a hardcover version, and that is dirt cheap for my gaming collection - so I ordered it :)
ShadowSun is marked down to 4 bucks in PDF (from 8) for a 216-page setting book. Quite simply, a bargain.
ShadowSun is a dark, apocalyptic, desert setting designed for use with ShadowDark. It presents a bleak world scorched by an angry sun and defiled by powerful Mage-Kings. A land where metal, food, and water are scarce resources. Player ancestries are Elves, Dwarves, Hawkfolk, Humans, Lizardfolk, and Mantisfolk. Class choices are Explorers, Mentalists (psionics), Shamans, Sorcerers, and Warriors. Extensive equipment choices and spell/power options. Also contains 124 ShadowDark monsters and extensive internal hyperlinks.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
First things first - Glynn Seal is one of the most generous, both in his time and his work, creatives in the OSR, if not tabletop gaming as a whole. As a mapper, an artist, a creative, and a writer, in the field of OSR fantasy creation he has no peers. He is the very definition of the Renaissance Man, and I am very happy to call Glynn a friend.
After saying all that, Gylnn's Midderlands setting is probably THE setting in the OSR that I am dying to run. I've backed each of Glynn's Kickstarters, but if you haven't backed all of Glynn's Kickstarters, the currentThe Midderlands Bundle of Holding is the answer you've been waiting for.
Adventurer! This all-new Midderlands Bundle presents The Midderlands, the grim, green, grime-smeared old-school tabletop fantasy roleplaying campaign setting from MonkeyBlood Design. Designed by ENnie-winning writer-artist-cartographer Glynn Seal, the Midderlands setting is a green-hued, dark-fantasy, late-Middle Ages, early-Renaissance land based on Glynn's home in the United Kingdom, the Midlands. Many Midderlands locations are grounded in reality, others pure fantasy from the designer's fevered imagination. This atmospheric (not to say fetid) sandbox setting adapts easily to any Old School Revival rules set such as Old-School Essentials, Swords & Wizardry, and many other Dungeons & Dragons retroclones, or you can add any of the horrific Midderlands monsters, weird locations, and beautiful maps to your own campaign. (The sewers. We recommend the sewers.)
For just US$14.95 you get all three titles in our Starter Collection (retail value $60) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Midderlands OSR Setting and Bestiary corebook, The Midderlands Expanded, and The City of Great Lunden.
And if you pay more than the threshold price of $30.33, you'll level up and also get our entire Bonus Collection with seven more titles worth an additional $70, including Adventures in Great Lunden, Fighting Folk of the Haven Isles, Folk Magic of the Haven Isles, Bats of Saint Abbans, Chewer of Fingers, Behind the Walls, and Rivers and Lakes.
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Today is the day for gifting the gifts of Day 9 of OSR Christmas (I know this post was meant to be up yesterday, but a more important post took precedence)
If your name/handle/screen name is below one of the following gifts, you MUST do the following (it helps with my sanity):
Email tenkarsDOTtavern at that Gmail thing (note - DOT equals a ".") In the Subject of the email, please put "OSR Christmas Day 9". This SHOULD keep you from getting caught up as spam. Note - should. It's failed once already. In the body of the email, state your name/handle/screen name that is down below, state the gift you are receiving, and both your DTRPG email and, if you are getting the stickers and patch, a snail mail address.
From DiceBro:
•PDF Bundle of issues1-3 of Wizard Funk, an OSR zine
OSR Christmas Day 10 will be tonight, on the Talking Crit Livestream. OSR Christmas Day 11 will be here, on the blog, either tomorrow or Friday. Day 12 will be on Friday Night's Livestream with Glen Halstrom :)
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
I was just informed of the suicide of Ben Shields, son of artist James Shields. I have no words. I have seen suicide impact the families of friends and coworkers far too often. If you find yourself in a desperate state, the Suicide Hotline Number is 988 in the United States. You can also text the number if that is a more comfortable form of communication for you.
The Tavern will match the first $250 raised for Ben's funeral expenses by the members of this community, with a minimum donation of $100. We'll be making the donation no later than 6 PM Thursday Night, January 4, 2024. Simply comment below with the amount of your donation. When we hit $250, The Tavern will make a matching donation - Tenkar
Here's Gary Oliver's post from Facebook:
It is with great sadness that I am reporting one of our NTX family members and contributors, James Shields lost his son Ben to suicide on 12/31/23. The family is in mourning and very overwhelmed by all of this. James told me I could inform the community and let everyone know that they appreciate everyone’s condolences and support but may not respond directly to people for a while.
James has helped the convention with our logo the last couple of years. He is also a good friend to me personally as well. To help the family with expenses related to the final arrangements and other costs I am setting up a GoFundMe for Ben’s memorial. I know that this group will be supportive with not only post of condolences but will also help financially in this time of great despair and sadness for the Shield’s family.
Thank you, as always, for your support of NTX and all of the friends and family that make this such a great community - Gary Oliver
Well, 2023 was one hell of a year. It could have been better, and certainly could have been worse, but overall I think it ended up pretty positive.
So, what does 2024 have in store forThe Tavern and its community, and even the OSR at large?
First off, a huge thanks and shout out to Don Semora over at Wizard Tower Games, we now have a gamershealthonline.com site to support the community with links, resources, and a forum. It's not just for those who join Rach and me on our Saturday Night Gamers Health live streams, but anyone in the gaming community who is looking for some support. The forums are still in their infancy, but they will grow with use and need.
The Tenkar's Tavern Substack will return as a monthly newsletter/ links to gaming channels/gaming content later this month. Weekly was simply not feasible, so I'm retooling it. As it grows, I'm hoping to build on the gaming content it will provide its readers. Wish me luck :)
Tenkar's Tavern Youtube Channel - We'll be adding Shorts and excerpts from the various live streams. The live streams are very popular but can last, at times, over two hours at a clip, so I'm going to be pulling out bits and pieces so folks can sample an episode.
Additionally, we'll be commencing with Fireside Chats, a series in which I sit down with various creators in the gaming hobby, learn how they got into gaming, how they got into creating for the hobby, and what keeps them going. We'll aim for 10-20 minutes a session. These will be released first to paid members of the channel but will be released to the general public approximately a week after the limited release of each episode. Membership is only 1.99 a month ;)
This here blog - as requested, I'm aiming to do some reviews, likely weekly, possibly with an accompanying video depending on the material. Possibly even some gaming content, in earlier, beta versions before releasing on the Substack.
Now, to dive into the backlog of OSR Christmas emails...
Talking Crit Short - Fauci Doesn't Like Spiders!
The Tavern is supported by readers like you. The easiest way to support The Tavern is to shop via our affiliate links. The Tavern DOES NOT do "Paid For" Articles and discloses personal connections to products and creators written about when applicable.
DTRPG, Amazon, and Humble Bundle are affiliate programs that support The Tavern.You can catch the daily Tavern Chat cast on Anchor, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your podcast collection. - Tenkar
Whelp, this is it. If you had plans for something in 2023 you've got this evening to finish it up.
I rarely have "by year's end" goals. "This weekend" or generalized goals, yes, but not "this year" type goals. This weekend I'm taking out two closets and making custom shelves....and I clearly forgot that I'm old and broken because my two-day project will go at least three days, if not four or four-plus.
FFFFFFF....UUUUUU.......Fun! So much Fun!
Luckily there has been very little bleeding on these two builds and I did get the "big stuff" done. The work has given me time to think a bit and when I wasn't thinking about StarfieldDamn this hurts Did I measure twice cut once?other things, I thought about what kind of goals I should have for this next year. In other words, I actually want to have some "by year's end" goals.
I think it's important to actually state (share) goals and I also think one should have at least three goals: a big one, a medium-size one, and small/easy goal. How your goals fit into each category will be up to you, but for me small is easy, medium is probably (but with difficulty), and big is something I will really have to work hard to accomplish.
So my 3 goals, and these are gaming goals here, would be:
Small: I want to buy/build a wheeled gaming case to hold all my shit for a convention. Instead of lugging around my backpack and having to go up to my room to switch-out/resupply, I want a cool case I can wheel around and have easy access while at the table.
Medium: The project I think I can get done, but will take some effort, is to get a pet project of mine published. I have to be a bit secretive on that one.....but I'll be self-publishing and I want to be done this year.....it's been on my mind for far too long. The graphic for this post was inspired by this particular idea that I've not been progressing on.
Big: Another writing/publishing project, but a big one, is to write an adventure. I want to get the artists lined up, have it written and playtested, do the layout....etc.
Feel free to comment with your goals for the next year. Put a voice to that idea......an important 2nd step. Later this year, after NTRPG we can circle back and see if we (we......not just me) have been making progress on our goals.
Random Thoughts & Links for 4/26/2024
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A few links for a Friday.
- A look at Kara-Tur. I agree it feels a little uneven. But the maps are
gorgeous and looking at them makes me really want to pla...
Kickstart Your Weekend: Horror and Sci-Fi!
-
A nice mix today. Let's get to it.
*Frightshow Classics*
[image: Frightshow Classics]
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frightshowclassics/frightshow...
Friday Fantasy: Asterion
-
It is difficult to describe what *Asterion* is without being as direct as
its author is. So not to beat about the bush, *Asterion* is a sex dungeon.
*Ast...
QuarHammer
-
I stumbled, addled, into my local semi-rural game store in search of
off-brand Contrast paint to finish up Ionus Cryptborn, and while wandering
around, I ...
More (Mostly Pointless) Messing About
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I thought I would try an experiment: I re-scaled one of Bergman's 1:100
Char B-I (bis) models to 1:200 and printed it on my Mars Pro. It's the
yellow ...
Stonehell: Dipping their toes in the sewer
-
Session 227 was played on 9/24/23
Morgana, Magic User (Rob)
Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse)
Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC)
Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC)
Jameth, Fighter 5...
AD&D ability tests, streamlined
-
As I've mentioned in my Hyperborea review (check it pout!), I really liked
how the game tries to streamline AD&D ability checks:
This is a simpler versi...
On preparing adventures for the Ghostbusters RPG
-
With my mind on a lot of things lately related to West End Games' classic
RPG *Ghostbusters*, I was thinking of putting together a blog entry
offering so...
d100 Wasteland Weirdos
-
Possibly some Charginspire leaked onto our new album.
Sampler short
https://youtube.com/shorts/Yj7jn40iomM?si=dflfJ10EdYYJqMYr
My Gunderholfen solo play...
Standoff at Sandfell Sea Fort
-
By MalrexThe Merciless MerchantsOSR/1e/2eLevels 4-7 Eerie lights? Strange
noises? Ships are sailing blind into the rough shores of the Bay of
Saurvorn. Why...
A World in a Magazine
-
Four years ago, I wrote about my history with miniature games and getting
back into them during the lockdown. Summer 1995 saw me seduced by the world
of ...
New Printable Scenery Campaign: Ramshackle & Ruin
-
[image: New Printable Scenery Campaign: Ramshackle & Ruin]
I don't know how many of my peeps here are into 3d printing, but I'm always
collecting the STL ...
Play as Sculpture, Play as Prism
-
Watching my eldest child and friends engaging in imaginative play, I'm
often struck by the fact that what seems to excite them is deciding who
gets to be...
Session #12 & Adventure Sites Compilation
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Firstly, I wanted to let everybody know that Adventure Sites I by Coldlight
Press is now available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. It includes my
own...
Clerics of the Flanaess, Part 2
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Sorry it took so long to get to the next article in this series, but here
we are! This continues the details of specialty clerics for the World of
Greyhawk...
On the Sector Turn
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It's very simple.
There are many important things cybertechtronically enhanced secret agents
need to do: Buy illegal tanks with railguns. "Convince" the...
Arsenic & Old Lace (a Review)...
-
The free-kriegsspiel revolution (or FKR; sometimes free-kriegsspiel
roleplay) has been getting a lot of attention lately, which seems
inevitable given re...
The Light Dawns
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THIS!!! Yes, a thousand times, this!
Back in the day, I referred to this as “neo-classicalgaming,” which is to
say, the sorts of games that came ou...
Improvised Awful Lights Missions
-
Asking about The Awful Lights, a commenter asks:
*I'd love to hear about how this is run - with the Handler determining
mission location and objectives ...
Jim Ward's Adventure in Gygax's Wonderland
-
Last weekend at GaryCon, many of us raised a glass to the memory of Jim
Ward, who passed away just days before the convention. Ward was very
helpful to m...
It’s Tolkien Reading Day
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I recently started rereading *The Silmarillion*. I had last read it over
two decades ago. I liked it then but I’m really enjoying it this time!
Despite b...
Osr anchorites?
-
It's been a long time since I listened to any osr podcasts. Anchor was a
lot of fun. I'm not sure if the community is still going? I deleted the
app ...
Chaos War Dogs
-
Welcome back to the Vault! My gaming partner and I had a fun day at the
Meme Team doubles last weekend, placing mid-table results wise. My eye is
now lo...
ShadowDark Magic Items
-
The next campaign I run will use the ShadowDark RPG. I'm not sure when
that'll be (I'm hoping a little later this year), but ShadowDark is my
choice. I'v...
Xandering, Jaquaysing, or Arneson-ing the Dungeon?
-
Yet another gamer firestorm arose shortly after the passing of Janelle
Jaquays when it was noted that Justin Alexander had changed a rather well
known p...
GLOG Class: Bioweapon
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I got this idea from mad gods on bear blog.
Crab Evo from Kagaku Sentai Dynaman
A thousand soldiers were slain. Too many to be tragic--this is just a fact...
The Economy Engine, v0.2
-
I made a thing. For D&D 3rd edition, so it might not be that interesting to
a lot of people. But I made it and I think it’s cool. The 3rd edition
Dungeon M...
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace
-
A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient
aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or
more w...
What Else Have I Got in Me?
-
Brechewold's been done for a little while. Still incredibly pumped to have
this labor of love out in the company of LotFP's marvelously creative body
of ...
Last move - to self-hosting!
-
As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to
self-hosting.
I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at)
Blog: ht...
Time Rolls On
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Today is December 31, 2023, in the mid-afternoon. In less than ten hours it
will be 2024. 2023 2023 was a good year. But all years are good years. Both
goo...
Play Report: Skull Mountain
-
At the end of the last Skull Mountain session the PCs had retreated to
safety at Owen's redoubt, met with visiting elves, and recovered from
injuries ...
-
Heya folks, the 21st Salt Mine book, Import Export, has hit the digital
shelves! In the 21st book we follow Aaron Haddock-codename Stigma-as he
tries to ...
Moving On...
-
So, my D&D 5e experiment has blown up the lab in a puff of green smoke
leaving my face blackened like Wile E. Coyote after a failed roadrunner
Acme trap...
How to Keep Megadungeons Fresh
-
People often consider megadungeons boring. Not because the play style is
boring, but because they are in the same locale for a majority of the
campaign. If...
The Blade Itself
-
I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Blade Itself, volume one
in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy. This was my first exposure to
his wo...
Genteel Magistrate at FenCon XVIII
-
Victorious author Mike Stewart will be a guest at FenCon XVIII this weekend
at the Sheraton DFW Airport hotel, 4440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving,
TX, ...
This is an Important Game Mechanic
-
*"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good
regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does
some s$&...
Clean Your Room
-
Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun
playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it
was ...
My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter!
-
I can't believe I didn't post about it here!
The Dead are Coming, Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time are
on *Kickstarter right now!* Thes...
Maximum HP 004, one week to go
-
Just one week to go for Maximum HP issue #004, the undead. We are pushing
through stretch goals and wracking up contributions for the best issue yet.
We...
Steve Jackson Interview
-
James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his
Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and
upcomi...
Undermountain Map Origins
-
As documented on the Ruins of Undermountain sales page, "TSR didn't
actually use Ed Greenwood's original maps," at least not in their entirety.
This post d...
WB:FMAG Total Print Sales
-
Hello Folks,
The last time I did a quick sales report was in September 2018.
I pulled reports from Amazon, Lulu and DrivethruRPG from October to current
fo...
The Minotaur for Old-School Essentials
-
*Minotaur*
*Requirements:* Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9
*Prime Requisite:* STR and CON
*Hit Dice:* 1d10
*Maximum Level:* 8
*Armor:* Leather, including shield...
WIZARDS OF POHJOLA
-
Init +0
Melee Atk
• sword or dagger +1 (1d5 or 1d3)
Ranged Atk
• hot iron sparks +3 (1d4+2 to two targets within 20' but not closer than
5')
AC 14
HD 12d...
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule
-
*As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded
Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in
Warren...
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets
-
In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one
for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants
and...
James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video
-
A beloved father, devoted friend, and D&D Dungeon Master extraordinaire. We
miss you! To view video, click here Memorial Video
Note - The original video...
Let's Talk About Pacing!
-
The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even
rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player
was...
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2
-
This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release,
along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a
Saint 8000...
SHORT BREAK.
-
I'm going to take a break for a week or so and will start up again in the
New Year. Thanks for reading and we'll start with Level 6 when I get back.
Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor
-
Nope, it's got nothing to do with Cthulhu. I just did a video conversation
with Iain Lovecraft, who designs 3D miniatures and terrain. If you're not
doi...
New website!
-
Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated
form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that
site wil...
Please Update Your Link!
-
If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is
out of date.
Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is
h...
Mord Mar - Session 6
-
We weren't able to play Mord Mar last week, due to a family funeral. This
week we played on Monday for the first time, due to kids returning to
school and ...
A Small, Quiet Plea
-
There has been a great deal of discussing political agendas, social
grievances, and personal attacks within the little corner of gaming that is
my hobby....
Don’t Sleep It’s Broken
-
Expanding/editing my comments from What Makes Something Broken G+ thread:
“Broken”, for me, is anything that makes normal character choices, tactics,
or ro...
Swords & Wizardry Light-Themed Birthday Party
-
Last month, my wife and I helped our oldest to celebrate his birthday in
style. Ever since 2013, we have hosted a themed birthday party for our
now-15-ye...